Objection filed in race for trustees of schools

Oak Parker William B. Sullivan has filed an objection in the race for Cicero Township Trustees of Schools against his opponent, Berwyn resident Isaura Yanez.

In the objection, Sullivan, an attorney, claims that Yanez does not live at the address she lists on her candidate papers, but at another Berwyn address. That address would not qualify her to run for the board, as the seat may be filled only by someone residing within a school district not already represented on the board.

Berwyn has two elementary school districts, and therefore could have two representatives.

Oak Parker and current Trustee Tom Doherty is not seeking re-election.

Sullivan cites mortgage documents that Yanez signed, which state she will reside at 1432 Gunderson for a period of at least one year, starting no earlier than Jan. 29, 2004, and no later than March 29, 2004. But he said she does not live there.

Sullivan also claims that Yanez is not a registered voter in Cook County, but signed a Statement of Candidacy under oath that she was a qualified voter.

A call to Yanez' address listed on her candidate papers, 3440 S. Grove Ave., was automatically forwarded to Paul Fuentes, her attorney and friend.

Fuentes said he was not representing Yanez in the matter, but that the Gunderson house she owns is undergoing rehab work and cannot be occupied. He said the move to the Grove address was not necessarily temporary because the area in which the Gunderson home sits "seems to have destabilized a little bit."

Fuentes said Yanez has been a teacher with Chicago Public Schools for the past decade, and that she's running for the trustees of schools board because "she feels certain schools aren't receiving adequate resources."

The board makes no decisions about school funding, other than to make investments of tax proceeds for school districts in Cicero, Berwyn and Oak Park.

Sullivan, founding chair of Oak Park and River Forest High School's Alumni Association, said he is "extremely passionate" about education, and that if elected, he would represent Oak Park's interests on the board. However, he said he would also be representing the interests of Cicero and Berwyn, and that he would have no control over whether the state legislature would vote to allow OPRF out of the arrangement.

OPRF has asked legislators to draft a law that would let it out, claiming the trustees of schools duplicates its own services.

The objection's first hearing was scheduled for Tuesday, but a decision would not be rendered until a future date, said Scott Burnham, spokesman for the Cook County Clerk's Office. Burnham said 18 objections from 129 suburban Cook County communities were filed for the April elections for park boards, fire protection districts, library boards and township trustees of schools races, the only races that his office handles objections for.